bending and alchemy
by junodog
Summary: Crossover with Fullmetal Alchemist. Toph gets lost in the country of Amestris and runs into the Elric Brothers. mangabased.
1. Chapter 1

Yeah… me writing in first person… not something I plan on doing ever again because it's a pain… anyhow, I'll put the name of who's speaking at the beginning of each section to avoid confusion. Aren't I nice?

-----------

Toph:

I could tell something was wrong the moment that metal thing raced past me. I had wandered off from the campsite for a bit, since Aang and Katara were practicing waterbending, and Sokka was off hunting or something. Surprisingly, I hadn't felt any vibrations from the metal thing until it was about to run me over.

I managed to get out of the way, and the thing just continued to move away, leaving me confused. From the vibrations I had felt, it seemed like it was something from the Fire nation, but something wasn't right. The wheels on it were made of something strange.

I turned back towards camp. I knew the way back, but once I was where the camp was supposed to be, there was nothing there. Something was up. I continued in the direction I had felt Aang and Katara going. After a bit, I came to a small body of water, but there was nobody there.

I went back to the campsite. Once again, there was no trace of a camp, no fire, not even a sign of Momo or Appa. I started to panic. What if something had happened? It was doubtful that they had been taken by the Fire nation. There would have been signs of a struggle. Here there was nothing.

A chilling realization came to me. What if they had left without me? What if they had been forced to flee because of a Fire nation attack? No, that wasn't possible. They wouldn't have forgotten me. After all, I was responsible for Aang's earthbending education. They couldn't leave me. Besides, they weren't that coldhearted either. Maybe they were looking for me, but I just couldn't tell where they were because they were in the air.

I sat down to wait for them. They would probably check the campsite soon. And if not… I decided not to think about it. I didn't want to go home. My parents would just freak out and take away what little freedom I had left. No, waiting was the best way to go.

After a while, I felt some vibrations. There were two people coming. They were pretty close. Normally, I would have hidden, but something about them puzzled me. The bigger one was wearing armor, but the vibrations were off. It was like the armor was empty. The smaller one seemed pretty normal, but something seemed very off about his left leg.

--------------

Ed:

I had noticed the girl while walking down the road with Al. She was just sitting there, all alone, and it looked like she was waiting for something. I pointed her out to Al, and we walked over. She stood up as we came close. There was a strange expression in her eyes. They were oddly blank, as if she didn't see us. I decided to offer some help.

"Are you lost?" I asked, as gently as I could. She seemed very young.

"Do I look lost to you, shorty?" the girl replied. She sounded a little irritated, but I didn't notice. I was too upset about the whole "shorty" thing.

Al put his hands on my shoulder and successfully prevented me from attacking the girl. While I was still struggling to get free, he started talking to the girl. "Well, if you're not lost, then what are you doing all alone out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"What do you mean, the middle of nowhere? There's a town really close by, isn't there? And besides, if this is the middle of nowhere, then what are you two doing out here?"

Al finally let go of me. I kneeled down and started drawing a map in the dirt. "We're following the road to a small village. It's pretty far away, but there's no train station in the town, and we missed the only carriage ride available."

The girl continued to give me a blank stare. "What's a train station?"

Al looked at her. "It's where you can get onto a train."

"And what's a train?"

I had started to take a drink of water from a bottle in my suitcase, but once I heard this question, I spewed the water out and started choking. Once I had gotten a hold of myself, I asked the girl, "You don't know what a train is?"

"No, I don't. I also don't know what that thing is that passed by a while ago. And also, what's with your leg? It's definitely not normal. And why is that armor moving and talking if there's nobody inside?"

That surprised me. I was wearing my usual outfit, so neither my arm nor leg was visible. Had she heard the almost inaudible metal noises my leg made? "H-how did you…"

"I felt the vibrations it made when you stepped on it. I'm an earthbender."

"You're a what?"

"An earthbender? You know, somebody who can bend earth?"

"What's bending?"

"You don't know what bending is?" The girl said, sounding as if it was a ridiculous idea for me to not know about bending.

"No, I don't. Is it a form of alchemy?"

"Alchemy? What's that?"

Suddenly, I realized something. This girl was definitely from around here. Her clothes and the fact that she didn't know about trains or alchemy, or even automail for that matter, were proof of that. Not only that, but she knew how to earthbend, whatever that was. I looked at Al. He seemed to have come to the same conclusion, because he nodded.

"Where are you from?" I asked.

"A town called Gaoling."

"And where's that?" I asked.

The girl's reply sounded a tad sarcastic. "Hmm, I wonder. I mean, it's not like we're in the Earth Kingdom or anything…"

"Earth Kingdom?"

"Are you stupid or something? How have you not heard about the Earth Kingdom?"

"Well, you've never heard of alchemy, have you? And I don't think you're in your precious Earth Kingdom anymore. This is a country called Amestris. Bending doesn't exist here."

"Then what do you call this?" the girl asked, stomping her foot. As it came in contact with the ground, a huge chunk of rock came out of the ground next to me and flew into the air. The girl stood in a certain stance and moved her hands. The rock then flew in the direction she was facing and crashed against a cliff.

------------

Toph:

I couldn't see the look on the midget's face, but I could tell he was surprised. He wasn't in complete shock like I thought he would be, but he was surprised.

"So that's earthbending?"

"Yeah, what did you think it would be?" I replied, losing my patience.

"Look, I have no clue how you got here, but this isn't a place where you can do things like that without getting noticed," the boy said.

"If it's not, then why aren't you very surprised?"

"Because it looks a lot like alchemy, if you ignore the different stances you used."

"What is alchemy, anyway? Is it a type of bending?" I asked.

"I guess you could say that. Alchemy is a science. You figure out the molecular composition of an item, decompose it, and recompose it into something different."

"Molecular composition?"

"Like what something is made of. Take my arm for instance," I heard the rustling of a sleeve. "See how it's made of metal?"

"Um, no, I don't _see_ that it's made of metal," I said. "I'm blind."

"Oh, really? I couldn't tell."

"Well, now ya know. I've never been able to use my eyes."

"Then how do you get around so easily?" the armor asked. "And how did you figure out that this armor is empty?"

"I use earthbending to see. I can feel the vibrations of everything that moves."

-------------

Ed:

At this point, I didn't know what to think. Here was a girl, who was completely blind, and yet had figured out our secret right from the beginning. I sat down.

"Look, I don't know how or why you ended up here, but we can't leave you out here in the middle of nowhere."

"Why not? I can handle myself."

"Maybe so, but if the wrong people find you, it could lead to bad things happening."

"Like what?"

"If the military finds out about earthbending, they'll want to use it as a weapon. You could be brought into a lab, or they could send you out to a battlefield, or something else like that."

"So what should I do then?" the girl asked.

"Come with us. We might be able to find a way to get you back to where you're from."

"How can I trust you?"

"Well, you don't really have much of a choice, do you? Besides, we're not the kind of people who like destroying other people's lives."

"What are your names?"

"Our names? I'm Edward Elric, and this is my _younger_ brother Alphonse. What's your name?"

"Toph."

"All right, Toph, let's get going. We were going back to Central anyway, so you might as well join us."

-------------

Yeah, this is another one I began over the summer, so there's a decent amount of it written so far… it's just a matter of continuing with it… and since I don't like writing in first person much anymore…


	2. Chapter 2

And… since I lack the motivation to do homework, here's part two.

-----------------

Toph:

I walked with Ed and Al down a crowded street. They had explained the basic concepts of the technology in this world, but I still had problems adjusting to the cars driving by, or the occasional whistle of a train. I thought that coming in contact with Fire nation weapons would have prepared me for this, but it didn't. At least, it didn't help much.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked Ed.

"To Central Headquarters. I have to report to the Colonel."

Oh, yes, the ever-famous Colonel Roy Mustang that I had heard about during the train ride. I could tell Ed wasn't very excited about seeing him, and to be honest, I wasn't either. I concentrated on my surroundings. Most of the buildings were made of some type of stone. The road was, too. I couldn't help but smile. If I ended up having to fight somebody, I would have a lot to work with.

I guess Al noticed the look on my face, because he asked what I was thinking about doing. I shook my head. "Nothing, really."

"I don't really believe that."

"And I don't really believe your brother knows about that cat in your armor."

Al didn't ask about my thoughts again after that.

----------------

Roy:

I heard a knocking at the door. Knowing that Fullmetal had something to report, I let the tiny alchemist come in. He was accompanied by his brother, which didn't surprise me one bit. What did surprise me was the young, strangely dressed girl behind him.

I stood up. After the events of the past few days, I had a feeling that this girl was somebody important. I tried not to act too interested, though.

"So how did your mission go?"

"Fine. Nothing interesting to report."

"What about that?" I asked, pointing at the girl.

"Excuse me?" the girl asked. I could tell she was on the verge of saying something rude.

"Oh, right. This is Toph. We found her on the way back. And she says she's from someplace called the Earth Kingdom. Have you heard of it?"

"No, I haven't. Where is it, exactly?"

"I don't know. I couldn't figure out where it would be. Part of me is thinking it's not a part of this world."

"And how would that work, exactly?"

"I don't know, that's just my theory. Besides, from what she said, it seems logical that she wouldn't be from around here."

"Can you stop talking like I'm not here?" the girl asked. She had an attitude like Fullmetal's.

"Sorry."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Here, look. I even have a _map_ of my world." She pulled a scroll out of her clothes and placed on my desk.

"Wait," Ed said. "Why would you have a map if you're blind?"

"You're blind?" I asked. Either she was lying, or her other senses were very good, since I hadn't been able to tell.

"Yeah, I'm blind. And the only reason I have that is because my idiot friend dropped it." Now I really wanted to know more about her "blindness." She had been able to point straight at me earlier.

----------------

Toph:

I was getting really tired of explaining myself to these people. Not only did they not know about my world, but also they seemed to be having a really hard time believing that I was really blind. It seemed like the only way to prove it was to use earthbending, but Ed had told me not to use it in the city.

Eventually they seemed to believe me. Of course, it probably helped that somebody came into the room. From what I could tell, she was more reasonable than Ed or the Colonel. She believed me as soon as she saw my eyes.

Once they were done talking about me, I left with Al to go to a hotel. Ed stayed behind to talk about official stuff. I didn't feel like getting involved in whatever was happening, so going to a hotel was fine with me. The only problem was that Al wanted to know more about my world.

I ended up going over the basic situation of our world. I also explained the duty of the Avatar, and how important it was for me to train him, hoping that this would put a rush on their plans to try and get me back. Al thought about it for a while, and was about to say something about it when Ed came into the room. He barely looked at me before collapsing on the other bed. He mumbled something about the Colonel before falling asleep. Right about then, I realized that there were only two beds in the room.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I don't need a bed," Al said, reading my mind.

"Why don't you need a bed?" I asked.

"In this body, it's impossible for me to sleep."

"Really? Doesn't that make you tired?"

"No, not really. I have no need for sleep, or for food. After all, I'm just a soul bonded to a suit of armor."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that. What happened?"

"It's a long story. Besides, it's pretty late. You should get some sleep."

"You don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself. Besides, I want to know."

"All right. Don't mention this to anybody, though, okay?"

"Why not?"

"Because what we did was forbidden. If people knew, we could get into big trouble."

"Okay. I won't tell anybody."

I listened to Al's story. Throughout it all, I didn't know what to say. It was sadder than I thought it would be.

-----------------

Toph:

A few days later, I went with Ed and Al to the train station. I was starting to get used to the technology on this world. It was like the Fire nation's, only not as destructive. Halfway there, I noticed Ed tense up. Then Al grabbed my hand and we started running. I couldn't really figure out what had happened, but judging from Ed and Al's reaction, I could tell it wasn't anything good.

After a while, we stopped in an alley. Ed and I were both breathing hard. Once I had recovered, I turned my head towards Al.

"What are we running from?" I asked.

"Didn't you see him? The man with the scar?" Ed asked.

"Um, no. I missed the whole scar thing," I replied, waving my hand in front of my face.

"Oh, right."

"So who's this guy? The one with the scar or whatever?"

"He's a killer. He's tried to kill brother on multiple occasions," Al said.

"Why does he want to kill you?" I asked.

"Because I'm a State Alchemist, and State Alchemists were involved in the Ishbal Massacre. He's an Ishbalan."

"So, you killed Ishbalans?"

"No, that was before I joined the military. He's just taking his revenge by killing every State Alchemist he can."

I was quiet for a moment, thinking back to my world. A massacre… something similar had happened during the war… I suddenly remembered. "How many Ishbalans are left?"

"As far as I know, a decent amount. I've met a few of them, ones other than Scar. Why do you ask?"

"Because, it just reminded me of something from my world. Al knows about it, but I don't think you do."

"What does it remind you of?"

I sighed, and then gave Ed a quick history lesson. "In our world, there are four different elements and nations. There's the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, the Water Tribes, and the Air Nomads. Some people in each nation have control over their element, like me. There's only one person who can control all four elements, and that's the Avatar. Whenever the Avatar dies, he or she is reborn into a different nation. The current Avatar is an airbender by birth. His name is Aang. He was actually born 112 years ago, but he was trapped in an iceberg or something. Anyway, 100 years ago, right after Aang disappeared, the Fire Nation began an attack on the other nations. They've been trying to take over for the past 100 years."

"So, how does that remind you of Ishbal?"

"Other than Aang, there are no airbenders left. The Fire Nation wiped them all out. And now, they're trying to do the same to the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes. That's why it's so important for me to make sure Aang masters earthbending soon, so he can defeat the Fire Lord and bring an end to this mess."

-------------

Ed:

Once Toph finished her story, I decided it was time to keep moving. Scar would probably be getting close to where we were hiding, and I didn't want to encounter him again. We took a more roundabout route to the train station.

Lieut. Hawkeye was waiting for us there. She gave me a salute, and walked with us to the train. "Scar's still in town. You should be careful."

"Yeah, I know. I just ran into him, actually. Luckily he didn't notice us."

"Where did you see him?"

I told her where I had seen him, and got onto the train. She stayed at the station, talking to Toph through the window. I wasn't really paying attention, but I could tell she was giving Toph a description of Scar that would be more helpful to her. Finally, the train left, and we were heading back to where we had first found Toph.

---------------

Toph:

It was late the next day when we finally got off the train. I stretched as we walked through the small town, and hoped that I wouldn't have to ride a train again. Just before we left the town, Ed stopped. Since I didn't have much of a warning, I ran into him, and we both fell over.

"OW!" Ed cried. "Can't you… oh, wait, never mind."

"Moron! What did you stop for?" I asked as I stood up.

"I was looking at the clouds. It looks like there's going to be a really big storm, so we should stay here for the night."

I felt a raindrop on my hand. "That's fine with me," I said as we walked back into the town.

--------------

Yeah… really don't like writing in first person, so I'll probably switch over to third person after a few chapters…

And yeah, I realize that there may be a possible OOC/plot hole bit in here, but I'm WAY too lazy too fix it, so… if you see it, just deal with it for now. I also have school to worry about.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow… looking back on this, I've noticed that Toph is not nearly as blunt/Tophish as she should be… Oh well, I tried.

--------------

Scar:

It had taken a while, but I had finally figured out where the Fullmetal Alchemist was headed. Once I was in the right town, I waited until it was night to look for him. It would be easier that way.

I waited until the rain stopped, and then went to the only hotel in the town. Fullmetal had to be staying there. Once I was close enough to it, I saw a girl sitting outside on the front steps. She noticed me, but she didn't seem to realize who I was. Her eyes didn't seem to register anything.

"Shouldn't you be in bed by now?" I asked.

"I'm not tired," she replied. There was something strange about her. She was barefoot, and her clothes weren't those of an average Amestrian. She shook her head and settled it on her knees.

"Where are you from?" I asked.

"Not from around here, that's for sure."

"So are you from a different country?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Why are you here?"

"I don't know. By accident, I guess." She turned her head towards me. "Where are you from?"

I don't know why I decided to trust her, but I did. "I'm from Ishbal."

"Isn't Ishbal the place that was destroyed by State Alchemists?"

"Yes, it is. There isn't much left of my people."

"It could be worse."

"How could it be worse, exactly?"

"You could be the only one."

"The only one?"

"Yeah, the only survivor. I have a friend who's the last of his people, as far as we know. The firebenders killed them all."

"Firebenders?"

The girl seemed startled, like she hadn't meant to say what she did. "Uh, that's what we call the people we're at war with. They have a strange obsession with fire."

I stood there, leaning against the wall of the hotel. "Why are you barefoot?"

"It's kinda hard to explain, but it's mostly so I can feel vibrations."

"Vibrations?"

"Yeah, like when you step on the ground, I can feel it. If I hit something hard enough, I can feel the shape of whatever it is."

"That's incredible."

"Yeah. It also makes up for some things I can't do."

"Like what?"

"Like seeing."

--------------

Toph:

I was almost positive that this strange guy was Scar. There was part of me that didn't believe it, though. This person seemed nice. He didn't seem like he was a killer.

He walked over to me when I admitted that I was blind. I could tell he was looking at me, looking into my useless eyes.

"How did you lose your vision?"

"I was born like this, actually. I've never seen anything."

"Is that why you've become so sensitive to vibrations?"

"That's part of it, yeah. Out of curiosity, why are you here?" I finally managed to ask.

"I'm looking for somebody."

"Who?"

He was silent. I could tell he didn't want me to know he was a killer. I stood up. "You're the one, aren't you? I can't see if you have a scar on your forehead, or if you have a weird tattoo on your arm, but I can tell it's you." I was reasonably nervous as I said this. The idea of fighting this guy didn't really appeal to me.

"Yes, I am."

"Are you here to kill Ed?" I asked before I could stop myself.

He was quiet.

I took a step back and got into my stance. I stomped my foot, sending Scar flying. I used this advantage to run into the hotel and wake Ed up. We got out through a window in the back and ran through the town. At the edge of town, I stopped. I could feel Scar nearby, hiding behind a tree, waiting. I stomped on the ground, sending up walls of earth all around him.

I wasn't really sure what happened next. All of a sudden, I felt the walls come crashing down. I kept making walls to block him, but he kept breaking through.

"How does he do that?" I asked as we ran.

"He's using destructive alchemy. He just destroys anything that gets in his way, and that includes people."

I felt Scar getting closer. I told the others to keep going, and stopped in the middle of the road. Scar stopped when he saw me there alone.

"You're going to fight me? For the sake of that State Alchemist?"

"Look, I know it seems odd, but I can tell he doesn't like what happened to Ishbal any more than you do!"

"That doesn't excuse the fact that he's a dog of the military."

"Do you think he joined the military specifically so he could go around killing people?" I stomped my foot against the ground, and made a giant hole underneath Scar. Then I brought up high, thick walls around the hole. Even with his destructive power, it would take him a while to get out of that, and by that time we would be long gone.

---------------

Ed:

We came to the area where I had first seen Toph. Once we were well off the road, she sent up a wall behind us, one that looked like it belonged there. Once again, I was amazed by her power. "That's incredible," I muttered.

"You think that's crazy, you should see what Aang can do. I mean, he _is_ the Avatar, and even if he's not a very good earthbender yet, he's really good with air and water."

"Yeah, but we might not even meet him. I mean, we _do_ have to go back soon."

"Yeah, I know, but you shouldn't go back too soon, since there's somebody who wants you dead and all."

We arrived at a campsite. The first thing that caught my attention was a huge creature with six legs and an arrow on its head. The next thing I noticed was a furry creature with wings flying towards me.

--------------

Aang:

After practicing waterbending with Katara, we made our way back to camp. Momo flew ahead, and as we arrived, I saw something very odd. There was Toph, sitting next to somebody in a suit of armor, laughing at somebody who was sitting on the ground. I walked up, and Toph came over.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

"Excuse me? I get stuck in some crazy world for a week, and all you can say is 'what's going on?' Were you worried about me at all?"

"What are you talking about? It's only been a few hours since we got here."

Toph dropped her hands. "It's only been a few hours for you?"

Katara, who was next to me, asked, "Are you all right?"

"I'm perfectly fine, except for the fact that I was stuck with that clown," Toph pointed at the small boy, "for the past few days!"

Sokka had arrived by now. He looked at the boy. "Who's this little kid?" he asked.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALLER THAN AN ANT ON A GIGANTIC MOUNTAIN LOOKING UP AT THE SKY AND REALIZING HOW HUGE THE UNIVERSE IS?!?!?" the little kid screamed.

"Brother, nobody said that," the person in the armor said.

"Um, so who are these two?" I asked.

"Oh, right. Well, they're alchemists."

"What's an alchemist?"

"Alchemy's sorta like bending, but not really. You can do almost anything with it."

"No, not really," the kid said. "Oh, and by the way, I'm Edward, and this is my brother Alphonse. And I'm FIFTEEN YEARS OLD, so don't forget that."

"No way, you're fifteen?" I asked, and ducked as a fist came flying at me. It was at that moment that I decided not to make fun of Edward again.

-------------------

Ed:

After a long discussion period, during which I demonstrated alchemy and got to see demonstrations of airbending and waterbending, Aang brought something up. My hair.

"You know, nobody around here has blonde hair."

"Really? That's weird…"

"No, it's not really weird. But people will be able to remember you if your hair sticks out."

"So, what, do you want me to dye it or something?"

"Yeah, that would be a good idea."

"Fine. I'll do it tomorrow."

"But what if somebody comes here tonight?"

"Is there a good chance of that?"

"Um, no, not really…"

"Then it can wait until tomorrow."

--------------

Ed:

In the middle of the night, Al shook me awake. He pointed quietly over to the trees. There were shadows drawing nearer. I snuck over to Toph, shook her awake, and pointed over to the trees. Then I remembered that she was blind, and told her that there was something or somebody in the trees.

She nodded, and concentrated on finding out who it was. "It's somebody from the Fire Nation. We should get out of here."

"Can we get out of here before they get too close?"

"If we're fast enough. We need to get everything packed up."

Once everybody else was awake, we packed everything in a hurry. Once everything was ready, Aang told us to hold on tight to Appa's saddle. I did, not really expecting this huge bison to run very fast. I was right about him not running very fast. Appa didn't run. He flew.

Once I got over the initial shock of what had just happened, I managed to look back down at the campsite. There was somebody looking up at us. I couldn't see very well in the dark, but I could see that half of his face was covered in a scar.

Katara was looking at him too. She seemed worried.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"His name is Zuko. He's somebody who's been chasing after us ever since we met Aang."

"Why's he chasing you?"

"Oh, something about his honor or something," Sokka said. I looked over at him.

"Is he from the Fire Nation?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's the son of the Fire Lord or something like that."

"Hmmm…"

"Hey, Ed?" I heard Katara ask.

"What?"

"Why are you wearing gloves?"

I looked at her. "Because it looks good."

"Even at night?"

"Yep. Hey, how far are we going?" I asked Aang.

"Not much farther. I'm just trying to lose him.

----------------

Yeah, sorry it took so long, but I sorta… forgot to update. XD


	4. Chapter 4

Yeah, so… um… I have no excuses for taking so long to post this. It's just me being lazy.

--------------

Ed:

Finally, we landed, and I helped to unload everything before collapsing on the ground nearby. I checked my sleeve, and closed my eyes. Al was sitting next to me, waiting patiently for morning to arrive. I felt a pang of guilt just before dropping off to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, it was to Aang staring at me. I sat up in a hurry. "What are you doing?"

"You need to do something about your hair."

"Huh? Oh, right…" I got up and looked around, trying to find something I could use to change the color of my hair. Finally, I found something, and set to work. It only took a minute with alchemy.

I knew Aang was watching my every move. It was starting to get rather awkward. Finally, I turned to face him. "Is there something you want?"

"Umm… yeah… you see…"

"Does it have anything to do with alchemy?"

"Can you teach me?"

"Shouldn't you be focusing on your bending or whatever?"

"Yeah, but alchemy looks really powerful, and wouldn't it make sense for me to learn something like that?"

"It's not as easy as it looks."

"Neither is bending."

"Yeah, but alchemy is really difficult to understand."

"I'm the Avatar, though."

I sighed. It would be impossible to convince Aang, especially since my method of alchemy didn't exactly look hard to copy. I looked at him. "I'll teach you the basics tonight. Not everybody can do alchemy, so we'll have to see if you have any talent for it first."

"Okay. Sounds good."

Man, this kid was way too cheerful about it. It was going to be hard for him if he ended up not being able to do it.

-----------------

Katara:

Ed spent the rest of the day preparing a lesson for Aang. When Aang was training with Toph, I went over to see what exactly Aang had to look forward to. Ed was cheerful about it, and he tried to explain the basic ideas of what he was doing.

I looked at everything Aang was going to have to understand. It was definitely going to be too much for him. I wondered how Ed was able to understand it to easily, and a while later, he told me.

"Our father was an alchemist. We inherited our talent from him. We've also been studying alchemy since I was five years old, and Al was four."

"Did your father teach you?"

"No. He ditched us when I was really little. Al and I learned by reading his books, and later, we found a teacher."

"Have you ever seen him since he left?"

"Our dad? Yeah, I saw him pretty recently. After everything that happened to us, he just showed up again, trying to act like a normal dad."

"What happened, exactly?"

Ed looked over at his brother, who was talking to Sokka. "Since he wasn't around, our mom had to raise the two of us by herself. After a while, she got sick and died."

"That's terrible."

"That's not all. If he had been around, Al and I probably wouldn't have… We wouldn't have turned out like this." Ed was quiet for a while. "What about your parents?"

"Oh, my dad's off fighting the Fire Nation, and my mom… she was killed."

"By soldiers?"

"Yeah."

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

"It does. I'm just glad I still have Sokka. And last I heard, my dad's still alive."

"That's good." Ed continued working for a while, and then looked to the sky. "It's strange, but if I were to compare my world to yours, my country would definitely be most like the Fire Nation."

"What do you mean?"

"Since before I was born, my country, the country of Amestris, has been constantly at war. It's just been one war after another, all just to gain more territory. Or at least, that's what I used to think. Now I realize, all these wars have been instigated for something else. I don't know what, exactly, but it's something sinister."

"But the Fire Nation completely wiped out the airbenders. They also almost completely wiped out my tribe. They're ruthless."

"So is the military of Amestris. Listen, when we were kids, there was something called the Ishbalan Civil War. It was a massive slaughter of the Ishbalan people that started when a soldier 'accidentally' shot and killed an Ishbalan child."

I looked down at my hands. I didn't really know what to say. "What did you mean when you said accidentally? It didn't sound like you were convinced."

"I know the person who shot that child. He did it on purpose, framing a soldier who was getting in the way of his master's plans."

"So, that entire war was started on purpose?"

"Yeah, and not for the purpose of gaining territory. Ishbal was already part of our country before the war started."

"That's terrible."

"Yeah, especially since a lot of people were against it, including my best friend's parents. They actually went to the battlefield, since there weren't enough doctors there. They treated a lot of Ishbalans, but… one of the people they saved… he killed them…"

Before I could say anything, Aang and Toph returned. Aang showed off his latest moves before sitting next to Ed. I got up and walked away, giving the two of them space.

-----------------

Ed:

"All right. Before we begin, there are a few things you need to know." I was walking with Aang through the woods, trying to find a quiet place to teach him.

"Like what?"

"Like the basic rules of alchemy. Now, I'd have you do what I did to learn the most important part, but I don't think we have time for that."

"What did you do?"

"Oh, our teacher left us on an island for a month, with only a knife, and told us to survive. Oh, and we weren't even allowed to use alchemy."

"How did that help you learn?"

"It taught us something very important. Right now, I'm guessing you already know what we learned during that month."

"What is it?"

"All right. Assuming you were just a normal kid, what would happen if you were to die?"

"What?" Aang looked very surprised. I didn't blame him. It wasn't something you wanted to think about.

"I mean, if you were just some kid, nothing special about you, what would happen if you died?"

"Well, people would be sad, wouldn't they?"

"Only the people you know. Would it matter to anybody else in the world?"

"No, I guess not. Everybody would just keep living on."

"And what about your body?"

"It would be… Ewwwww. That's gross."

"No, it's not, it's a part of nature."

"I guess you're right. So, my body would decompose and turn into dirt, and then… it would let other things live, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. Do you see where this is headed?"

"So, my death would just be part of the flow of nature, wouldn't it? But what does that have to do with alchemy?"

"All right. Watch closely." I clapped my hands together and placed them on the grass. There was a light from the transmutation, and Aang watched as the blades of grass were decomposed and reformed into another type of plant. I did it as slowly as I could, so he would hopefully understand what I was getting at.

"You changed the grass into a flower. So what?"

"It's not so much the flower that's important, it's how it came to be."

"You took apart the grass and made it into something new. I think I figured it out."

"All right, what did you figure out?"

"Alchemy works within the flow of nature, right? Deconstruction and reconstruction…?"

"Yeah, you got it."

"All right, what now?"

"Now, I'm going to teach you the rules of alchemy."

"There are rules?"

"Yeah. First off… Hey, where are you going?"

Aang waved as he ran off. "I have to go to the bathroom!"

I sighed, and waited for him to get back. While I waited, I looked around. We were pretty far from the campsite. There was a river nearby, and I sat down by it. This place was incredibly peaceful, despite the war that was going on. I closed my eyes and fell back on the soft grass. It brought back memories of when I was a kid, days when I would play in the river with Al and Winry. Those carefree days seemed so far away now. It was almost as if they were dreams.

I heard footsteps close by. I opened my eyes, and looked up, straight into the face of a boy around my age. There was a huge scar covering his left eye, reaching all the way back to his ear. I recognized him from the night before, but he didn't seem to recognize me.

I sat up. Nearby there was an old man standing with a strange creature. I looked at Zuko again, not quite sure what to do.

"Um, hi," I said, trying to act casual. "How are you doing this evening?"

Zuko glared at me, but the old man smiled. "We're doing fine, how about you?"

"Oh, can't complain."

"Would you like to join us for some tea?"

"Ah, no, I have to continue on my journey," I said as I stood up. "Thank you for the offer, though."

"A journey? Where are you going?"

"I don't really know myself. I have a goal in mind, but I don't know where I can go to get to that goal. I may have to go someplace I've never been before, or I may end up returning to the same place several times. It all depends."

"Are you sure you don't have time for tea?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I was just taking a break to think. See you around, maybe." I walked back into the trees, disappearing as quickly as I could from their vision. Once that was accomplished, I found Aang, and we headed back to the camp as I told him who I'd seen. We left later that night.

----------------

Zuko:

All through that night I wondered about that boy. He had acted like somebody my age would act, but he was small. Uncle Iroh didn't seem to think it had been strange, though. He just acted as if meeting somebody like that was an everyday occurrence.

There was definitely something wrong. That kid looked familiar. I tried to remember where I'd seen him before, but the only memory that came up was one from the night before, when I'd seen a boy with blonde hair staring at me from the Avatar's bison. I thought about it for a while. That kid couldn't be the same from last night. His hair was black, and I didn't think he would have been able to dye his hair that fast.

Once I was sure my uncle was asleep, I got up and headed into the trees, looking for a sign of that boy. Eventually I came into a clearing. There were trace signs of somebody camping there. I saw some ashes from a fire, stray hairs from an animal, and a strange circle drawn on the ground. I looked closely at it, and saw something interesting nearby. There was a small black spot in the ground.

I looked closely at it and realized it was hair dye. That confirmed my suspicions. That boy was traveling with the Avatar, and they had been here today. I looked up at the sky. It was perfectly clear, and I couldn't see anything. No bison. They must have left a while ago.

I went back to our campsite and went to sleep. It didn't matter, I thought as I closed my eyes. I had a strange feeling that I would see that boy again. Maybe not with the Avatar, but somewhere…

------------------

Ed:

The next evening, I continued trying to explain the basics of alchemy to Aang. It was hard, since he didn't know anything about science like I did. Finally, he knew enough to attempt a basic transmutation. I watched as he drew a circle in the ground, and placed his hands on the ground. Nothing happened.

He looked up at me. "Why isn't it working?"

"I don't know. I mean, you got the formula right, and the circle's fine. It should work."

Aang tried it again. Still nothing. "Argh, it's still not working!"

I thought about it for a while. It made sense that it wouldn't work, since he'd only spent a day studying alchemy. I looked over the circle again, just to be sure. I didn't see anything wrong with it.

"Don't worry about it. It usually takes a lot more training to be able to transmute."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Look, there's something you need to know."

"What's that?"

"Even if you do get really good at alchemy, you're still going to need something to draw a circle. There's not much of a chance of you being able to clap and transmute."

"Why not?" Aang sounded mad.

I sighed, and sat down on a nearby rock. After a moment, I pulled up my sleeve. "This isn't the arm I was born with. It's just a replacement."

Aang gasped as he saw the metal. I ignored him and continued. "The only way you can transmute without a circle is if you see the doors of truth, and the one of the only ways to do that is to attempt human transmutation."

"You can transmute humans?"

"No, that's my point. My brother and I tried, and we failed. This is the result of that failed attempt. That and the fact that all you'll ever see of my brother is that armor."

"Huh?"

"His entire body was taken away. You have to pay to gain true knowledge. And it's a pretty heavy price."

"So why are you telling me this?"

"Because I don't want you to make the same mistake we made. I spent a year getting my arm and leg installed, and it was painful." We sat there for a moment, staring at the sky. "Hey, why don't you try again? It couldn't hurt."

"It looks like you were hurt pretty badly by alchemy."

"Like I said, this is from attempting human transmutation. If you stay away from that, and also remember the law of equivalent exchange, you'll be fine."

He got up. I sat and watched, but something caught my attention. There were people in the trees. I got up and motioned to Aang. We went back over to the others, and prepared for a worst-case scenario.

----------------

Ed:

A ton of Fire Nation soldiers emerged from the trees. They were well armed, and I didn't see a chance of getting into the air safely. I looked at the others. They were all ready to fight. I checked to see how many we would have to deal with, about a dozen each. This wouldn't be very hard.

I clapped my hands and placed them on the ground. Blocks of rock came out of the ground and sent everybody flying. We got onto Appa and flew off. I looked back down, not daring to believe that it would be this easy. It wasn't.

Several missiles were fired at us. Appa avoided them easily, but I realized that they weren't aiming for Appa. They were leading us into a trap. Suddenly, several ropes came flying out of nowhere. They were weighted down at the end, and Appa was being pulled down. I clapped my hands and placed them on the ropes, breaking two at a time. Finally, I came to the last two. Appa was pulling hard to get out.

If I broke the ropes, the impact of getting loose would cause everybody to go flying if they didn't hold on, and there was nothing for me to hold onto. I thought about it for a moment. If I broke the ropes, I would go flying, most likely into the hands of the Fire Nation. On the other hand, if they caught Aang, this world would most likely be doomed. I didn't want that.

I made up my mind. Once I was sure everybody else had a good grip, I clapped my hands and placed them on the ropes. Almost immediately I went flying. Thankfully we weren't too far above the trees, because thick branches and leaves broke my fall. I tried to untangle myself.

Once I was out, I looked down. Nobody had seen me yet, but it was only a matter of time, considering my position. I climbed higher, so that I was almost completely hidden by the trees. Barely breathing, I pulled off my red jacket and set it down. Then I waited.

------------------

Ed:

It was a good two hours before they gave up with trying to catch Aang. I watched as they started to set up camp right below me. It was definitely going to be a long night.

After a while, somebody looked up. I held my breath, hoping they wouldn't see me, but no such luck. The soldier called over some other people, and they started to climb the tree. I looker around for a way to escape, but didn't find one. I decided to let them catch me, figuring I could find a way out later. I pulled on my coat again as they came.

Once I was on the ground again, I was led into a tent that was bigger than the others. A man looked up at me from behind a table. He nodded to the people behind me, and I felt strong hands on my shoulders. I panicked for a moment, not wanting them to find out about my arm. I struggled, but it didn't do anything other than make the situation worse.

I ended up being knocked out. When I woke up, I noticed that my jacket had been taken off, along with the long-sleeved shirt I usually wore. They had left my arm on, but that wasn't much help, as my hands were nowhere near each other. There were two trees growing fairly close together, and my hands were each tied to one. I could move them a bit, but I couldn't bring them together.

I sat there alone for a while, seemingly forgotten by the people in the camp. Finally, somebody came. It was the guy from the tent. He had an angry look on his face. That look definitely worried me, especially since I just happened to be tied up and at his mercy. He came down to my level, still with that look of intense hatred on his face.

"Where are you from?" he asked. When I didn't say anything, he put his hands in front of my face, and flames erupted between them.

"It would be a good idea to tell me. After all, fire can be very dangerous."

I kept my silence. This made the man angrier. He punched the air right next to my head, and I could feel the intense heat from the fire. "You know, judging from your clothes, and your eyes (I'm guessing that yellow eyes are common in the Fire Nation, I could be way off), you're from the Fire Nation. So, tell me, why did you decide to help the Avatar? Do you not want us to win the war?"

I looked up into the man's face. "Oh, is there a war going on? I hadn't noticed." That comment earned me a few bruises.

"Well, since you seem to be oblivious to the events of the world, I guess I'll just have to teach you." He stood up, and I saw two soldiers walking toward me. They untied me, and stood on either side of me as I was led into the tent again.

--------------

OH NOES ED IS CAPTURED?!?!?!???

Now let's see how long it takes me to update next time. XD


	5. Chapter 5

MuahahahahahahahahahahaIupdatedyoucan'tsayanythinghahahahaha I like pie.

----------------

Al:

I had understood my brother's intentions as soon as he told us to get a good grip. I also knew that he would be able to get away easily, if given the chance. The only thing that worried me was finding him again. It was very doubtful that we'd end up coming back to the area for a while.

I tried hard not to think about him. Right now the most important thing to do was to get away. Even though we were new to this world, both Ed and I understood how important it was to keep Aang away from the Fire Nation.

We flew for most of the night, only stopping when Appa was too tired to go anymore. Since I didn't need to sleep, I kept watch, giving everybody else a chance to rest without having to worry. Nothing happened that day, most likely because we were near the peak of a steep mountain.

Towards the evening, everybody woke up. After they ate, Aang brought up the subject of finding Ed. I tried to convince him that Ed would be fine, but Katara interrupted.

"Are you just going to leave him in the hands of the Fire Nation?"

"You don't know him like I do. He'll get away from them easily, it's not like this is the most difficult situation he's been in."

"But shouldn't you be concerned? What if something goes wrong? Besides, isn't he all you have?"

"I understand what you're saying. Of course I want to find him again, but I don't want to drag you into it."

"He saved our lives. I _want_ to help him."

"Even so…" I paused for a moment. "Listen. A while ago, there was a man who did all he could to help us, but he got caught up in it and was killed because of it. I know that this situation is completely different, but still. I don't think brother would be happy about you risking yourselves for him."

-------------------

Ed:

Inside the tent, I found myself being treated to a lecture on Fire Nation history. I listened, only half-interested, until I realized that most of what he said didn't make sense, especially since I had heard the other side of the story. Once the history lesson was over, he began a lecture on how I should be supporting my country. This one was even more irritating, since I figured it would end with me being forced to join the army or something.

I was right. After the lecture was over, the man started talking about taking me to the nearest barracks. I didn't hear the end of his plan for me, though, since I was taken back outside and tied up again. At this point, I was starting to get hungry. I wondered if anybody would ever think of giving me food.

The other thought I had was about my arm. Nobody seemed to be surprised that part of me was made of metal. I thought long and hard about this, and reached the conclusion that the Fire Nation was used to seeing this kind of technology. This was a bit surprising, since it didn't seem like the rest of the world had technology like this, but it was the best explanation I could come up with.

All through the next day, nobody paid any attention to me. I figured they were punishing me for not being a good citizen. Towards the evening, I was approached by one of the soldiers. I tried to ignore him, but it was incredibly hard, especially when he untied my left hand and gave me some food.

"I don't see why they're being so hard on you. You're not even that old."

For once, I didn't bother to say anything. I was too hungry.

"You know, I have a brother about your age at home. It's funny, you act just like him."

"Really?"

"Yeah. In fact, he would have done the same thing you did. He's against this war."

I sat there for a while. "Won't you get in trouble?"

"No, everybody else is too busy getting ready to head back. They won't notice. Listen, I can't help you get away right now, but I can at the barracks. Can you wait that long?"

I nodded, not really knowing what else to say. Part of me wanted to use this opportunity to get away, but then I thought about the man. I didn't want him to get in trouble because of me.

It was almost as if he could read my mind. "You don't have to worry about me getting in trouble. Nobody suspects that I would help you to get out. It's mostly because they would catch you easily. This isn't the only camp in the forest."

"I can avoid those easily. This actually isn't too bad, compared to what I've been through…"

"Hey, are you even from the Fire Nation? That's what everybody's saying, but there's a part of me that doesn't believe it."

"Hmmm… Let me put it this way. I'm not from the Fire Nation, but I don't claim heritage from anywhere else, either."

"What does that mean?"

Before I could answer, I heard footsteps nearby. The man quickly tied me back up and disappeared, just as the person in charge arrived from the other direction. He gave me a look of disdain as the two soldiers untied me and pulled me to my feet. One looked at my left arm carefully. I looked over at it, and realized that there weren't any marks from the rope.

"So, who is it that untied you?" I heard the man say. I looked into his face. He was looking very angry.

"Does it matter? I mean, it's not like it did me any good, did it?" I replied, letting my loathing for him come out through my words.

This didn't make him any happier. I felt the hands on my arms tighten their grips, just before getting a massive headache. I wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but it didn't matter. I was on the ground, in massive pain, and that was about the only thing I could concentrate on.

I felt myself being picked up off the ground and carried into the tent once again. This time I was blindfolded and bound tightly. I heard the man talking, but my brain couldn't process what he was saying. All I could tell is that I was in very, very big trouble.

-----------------

Al:

I walked with Toph towards a small town controlled by the Fire Nation. We were going to sell my armor there, in hopes that it would lead me to where they would take my brother. Once we were close enough, I transmuted a small cart and acted like an empty suit of armor.

I waited as Toph tried to sell me to a Fire Nation merchant. Since I couldn't see, I just listened to the conversation.

"It's really good armor, it can withstand a lot of damage."

"I'm sure. Wait, why would a little girl have armor like that?"

"It used to be my dad's. I'd keep it, but we really need the money."

"How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"I promise it isn't. That armor's empty." Suddenly the cat I had been keeping inside meowed. "Well, it's supposed to be empty," Toph said as she got the cat out.

The man picked up my head and inspected it.

"It's rather unusual, isn't it?"

"My father had a strange sense of humor."

"Well, I suppose it could be melted down and…"

"No!"

"What?"

"You can't melt it down! My dad said that there's a spirit trapped in there, and if you destroy its home, it'll destroy you!"

I couldn't help laughing a bit at this. Luckily it wasn't loud or long, and it probably helped to prove that I was haunted armor.

"Will the spirit do anything to the wearer?"

"No. It'll only so something if the armor is destroyed, or if that seal is washed away." I was very grateful that she said that.

The man was silent for a bit. "I'll take it. Here's your money."

"Thank you, sir," Toph said as she took the money and left. Almost right after that, I was being taken to a nearby fortress.

---------------------

Ed:

After a while, I managed to understand what was going on. I wasn't being taken to the barracks to be trained. I was being taken to a fortress to act as bait for the Avatar. I was still in the tent, but I knew that wouldn't last very long. After a while, I felt somebody pulling me to my feet. I was still bound tightly, but the blindfold had shifted slightly, giving me a view of everything above me. For once, I was grateful that I wasn't very big.

I felt a strong hand pushing me forward. Suddenly I realized something. Were we going to walk all the way to the fortress? I was about to ask when I saw that we were in front of a strange rhino creature. I was lifted onto it, and a soldier got on right behind me. After a long amount of riding, he pulled the blindfold off and I got a look at his face. It was a friendly face, one I had seen the night before.

I looked around. There were two other soldiers on the trail, one on each side. They were the same ones that had been following that one guy, the one in charge. I thought about the idea of being taken to a fortress. There would probably be a lot of security there, if they were going to try and capture the Avatar. I wouldn't have much of a chance of getting away then.

After a while, we stopped, and the man helped me to the ground. We walked towards the trees. It was only me and the one guy now. The others were staying with the rhino creatures. We were far into the trees when the guy stopped. He looked back at me. It was a fairly scary look. I took a step back.

"We're going on foot from now on. This fortress is in a very remote location, and only a few people know how to get there."

"If there aren't many people who know where it is, how is the Avatar supposed to get there?"

"The Avatar is an airbender. The fortress is only visible from the sky. Think about it."

"Oh, I get it now."

"Oh, and just so you know, I've been specifically forbidden to untie you. You're going to have to walk like that."

"Won't that take more time, though?"

"Better late than never."

-----------------

Ed:

It definitely took a lot longer to get there since I couldn't use my hands, especially since getting to this fortress involved climbing up a very steep, rocky hill. After trying several different methods, my captor sent a fireball shooting into the sky. I watched in amazement. I still wasn't used to firebending.

After a while, a rope came snaking down, and two people came down on the rope. I was starting to give up hope of escaping. These people were very well trained. They looked at me, their faces hidden by masks, and spoke in hushed tones. I couldn't hear anything of what they were saying, but I figured it out pretty quickly as one of them put their arm around me.

I could barely breathe in this man's grasp. It took all of my energy to keep myself from passing out, so I didn't bother to worry about the destination. After a bit, I was set on my feet, and I found I could breathe again. Once I was recovered, I looked around. In front of me was another sheer cliff wall. I groaned. I really didn't want to go through this process again.

Fortunately, I missed out on the last part of the journey, because all of a sudden I felt a wave of pain coursing through my entire body. I collapsed on the ground, not quite understanding what had happened. After that, I didn't really see or hear anything until a cell door closed, leaving me alone in the empty room, sunlight barely making it through the barred opening in the ceiling.

----------------

Al:

It took a while, but I finally ended up inside the secret fortress I had heard about. They left me in a small storage room, and once I was sure they weren't coming back, I snuck out.

It wasn't incredibly hard for me to find out where they were holding my brother. I heard people talking about him just about everywhere in the fortress. I found the room, waited a while for the guards to fall asleep, and opened the door with alchemy.

Inside, I saw my brother sleeping on a mattress on the ground. His arms were completely bound, and he wasn't wearing his jacket. I looked around, and saw it in a corner. I went to wake Ed up, but then I saw something that made me stop. He had several marks on his neck.

It didn't surprise me that he would have been injured, but it still made me mad. It took me a moment to regain control over my feelings, and during those few seconds, the door just happened to open.

I heard it opening, and went to hide behind it. Hopefully whoever it was wouldn't think to look back. The seconds ticked by, and I waited for whomever it was to leave. Instead, he leaned over Ed and messed with the ropes until only his hands were still tied. I watched with surprise as the man left a note in my brother's hand and left.

Once he was gone, I went over to see what the note said. I didn't have enough time to see it, because at that moment somebody came dropping in through the ceiling.


	6. Chapter 6

YES AN UPDATE!!!!!!! WHOOOOOO!!!

---------------

I. _E. coli_ O157:H7 should not be affecting nearly as many Americans as it has been.

II. Arguments for

A. Living without food is impossible, and the majority of people in the US eat meat.

B. While it is possible to cook your own food, many people are unable to do so and depend on the competence of others. "Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the USDA chose meat suppliers for its National School Lunch Program on the basis of the lowest price, without imposing additional food safety requirements." Pg. 218

C. E. Coli is potentially fatal. To not give a warning is almost the same as poisoning someone.

D. Contamination is preventable. " "I could always tell the line speed," a former Monfort nurse told me, "by the number of people with lacerations coming into my office." Pg. 174

E. There were 500,000 deaths due to E. Coli

F. Lee Harding

III. Arguments against

A. Prevention is expensive for the plants; the price of meat would rise.

B. It is the buyer's responsibility to educate him/herself about E. Coli.

C. As long as meat is cooked thoroughly, it is easy to avoid sickness.

D. Become a vegetarian.

---------------

APRIL FOOL'S!!!!!!! Ha, I gotcha, didn't I?


	7. Chapter 7

Now, wasn't the last chapter just brilliant:P Sorry it's been so long, I've been rather distracted by… stuff…

-------------

Zuko:

I was wearing my blue mask once again. I had seen some Fire Nation soldiers passing by on rhinos, and one of them was holding a boy prisoner. Normally, I wouldn't have paid too much attention, but something caught my eye. This wasn't any boy. It was the strange one from earlier.

I decided to follow them, only running into trouble when two of the soldiers stayed on the path with the rhinos. It had been a pain to sneak past them. Once I had caught up to the boy I was after, they were making their way up a steep hill. I waited for them to get to the top and followed silently. After a while, I figured out where they were headed. I returned to the camp, waiting until nightfall to return to the fortress.

It hadn't been a problem at all to get into the fortress. Nobody was expecting the blue spirit to appear here. I found out exactly where the boy was, and dropped through the ceiling – and found myself staring at a suit of armor.

I recognized the armor from the night I had seen the Avatar. I figured he was here to help the boy, who was sleeping quietly on the mattress. Before he could say anything, I pulled out one of my swords and cut through the ropes on the boy's hands. I had pulled a stunt like this before, only I was helping the Avatar. That night hadn't gone as planned. I hoped this night would go better.

I signaled to the armor that I would help them get out. The armor nodded, and shook the boy awake. I looked at the boy's arm. I had never seen anything like it before. It took me a while to come back to reality. Luckily, the boy figured out what was going on by that time, and I started to lead them out.

Before I could get the door open, the armor put a hand on my shoulder. He spoke in a whisper, and I was surprised how young his voice sounded.

"Wouldn't it be easier to get out the way you came in?"

"What are you talking about, Al? You'll never be able to get out that way," I heard the boy say.

"Brother, as far as anybody knows, I'm just a soldier wearing strange armor. As long as I don't draw too much attention to myself, I can get out fine."

The boy looked conflicted for a moment, but he consented. I looked up at the ceiling, and realized a huge problem with going that way. It was way too high up.

The armor seemed to have a solution for this. He nodded at his brother, who came towards him at a run. He jumped onto the armor's waiting hands and was propelled up to the ceiling. The boy got a hold of the bars and pulled himself out. I saw him lower a rope, and I climbed out, leaving the armor to get out on his own.

There were a lot of guards around, which made it difficult to get out. We managed to sneak past them to a corner in the back of the fortress. We were hidden from sight by a huge pile of boxes. I was thinking about a way to get over the wall when the boy came up with an interesting solution. He clapped his hands together and placed them against the wall. There was a flash of light, and then a door appeared. We went through it.

I brought the boy to a point outside the main gates, and we waited. Eventually the armor appeared, and we made our way back to the main road, following a secret path that was used for bringing equipment to and from the fortress.

---------------

Ed:

Once we were back on the road, I looked at the person who had helped us. He was wearing a mask still, but he took it off when he noticed me staring at him. It was Zuko.

I was immediately suspicious of his intentions, but before I could say anything, we were at a small campsite. I looked around and saw the old man from before. He looked at me with some surprise. It was at that point that I realized my arm was in plain sight.

I sat down next to Zuko. For a while, there was absolute silence. Finally, Al broke the tension by thanking Zuko. He nodded in reply, and glanced at my arm again.

"Why exactly…" he began.

"It's called automail. It's a replacement for the arm I lost."

"Oh. I've never seen anything like that before."

"I didn't think you would have. It's not really something you can easily find around here."

"So where did you get it from?"

I paused for a moment. "My best friend made it for me. She's an expert when it comes to these things."

"Where are you from?"

He just couldn't stop asking questions, could he? I left this one for my brother to explain and went off into the trees. I figured it would be good to turn my hair back to normal now, since people would be on the lookout for a black-haired boy. I was bringing my hands to my head when I noticed the old man watching me.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Changing my hair back to normal. I figure it'll be easier for me that way."

"How are you going to change it?" was the next question.

"With alchemy," I replied as I placed my hands on my head. Once it was back to normal, I stood up. "We haven't been properly introduced yet, have we? I'm Edward Elric."

The old man took my outstretched hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Edward. My name is Iroh, and my nephew's name is Zuko. What's the name of the person in the armor?"

"Oh, that's Alphonse, my brother, and he's actually a year younger than me."

"Really? Well, he does sound very young. Does he ever take off that armor?"

"Well, he can't, exactly, so no."

----------------

Ed:

I spent the next morning trying to explain the situation we were in. It was hard, since the only thing I could use to prove myself was alchemy, which was almost like another form of bending. After a while, though, Zuko seemed to get it.

We didn't spend much time dwelling on the matter, since it wasn't safe staying where we were. Luckily, Al had found the rest of my outfit in the fortress, so I could easily hide my arm again.

We had been on the move for about an hour or so when I remembered the note I had gotten the night before. I pulled it out and took a look at it. It was from that one soldier.

_They're expecting you to escape soon. They want to see how strong you are. Whatever you do, don't let them see what you're capable of, otherwise they'll label you as a threat to the Fire Nation and a bounty will be placed on your head._

_I'm not telling you to stay here. I'm just giving you a warning. If you escape, you have to stay away from any Fire Nation soldiers at all costs; otherwise they will try to capture you and put you to work for the Fire Nation. Be careful._

I showed the note to Al. His reaction was about the same as mine. We now had a very good reason to be on the run from the fire nation. "Damn, I knew getting out of there was way too easy."

Zuko overheard me. "You're calling that easy?"

"Yeah, you heard me. There's no way we could have gotten out of there without them noticing. They let us out."

"Are you kidding? That wasn't easy at all."

"It was for me, at least compared with the training we had as kids."

Zuko looked at me incredulously. "What kind of training did you go through?"

"The kind of training that makes breaking out of a place like that a day at the beach." Ignoring Zuko for the moment, I continued walking. "We should be careful. There might be somebody trailing us."

---------------

Zuko:

We didn't stop walking until late that night. Once we did, I watched as Ed collapsed on the ground. Part of me found it funny that he was so tired. Al didn't say anything about it, though. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.

Once camp was set up, I sat next to Al, who was watching his brother thoughtfully. After a while, Al spoke.

"Aren't you avoiding the Fire Nation too?"

"Yeah."

"Can I ask why?"

"You know who I am, don't you? My father's the Fire Lord."

"Yeah, I knew that."

"Well, long story short, I dishonored him and was banished to find the Avatar. Now I've been labeled a full-on traitor."

Ed had woken up at this point. "So you actually bothered to look for the Avatar, just for the sake of honor?"

"What would you know about it?"

"Absolutely nothing, since there's no way in hell I'd ever try to please my bastard of a father." Ed walked off into the trees.

I was about to go after him when Al put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't let what he says bother you. He tends to be like that a lot."

I nodded, and sat down. "Why did he call your father a bastard?"

"Well, our dad left a while after I was born, so our mother had to take care of us by herself. He didn't keep in touch at all. It made life really hard for our mom, and she died soon after he left."

"Why did he leave?"

"Nobody knows, but if he had been around, we might not have turned out like this."

"Like what?"

"After our mom died, we thought we could use alchemy to bring her back. It didn't work, though. That's how brother lost his arm and leg, and also why I'm in this armor. My real body was taken away."

I stared at Al. It was hard for me to understand what he was saying. Al seemed to realize I was confused, because he went on.

"A huge part of alchemy is the law of equivalent exchange. You can't make something out of nothing, and you can't bring somebody back from the dead. We learned that the hard way."

"So, if your body was taken away, how are you in the armor?"

"Brother managed to connect my soul to it, at the cost of his arm."

I finally understood. These two had been through a lot, probably more than me. I didn't know what to say. After a while, I got up and went to find Ed. I wanted to apologize.

--------------

Ed:

I walked through the trees aimlessly, not wanting to return to the campsite. Part of me was ashamed of what I had said. I wasn't entirely sure, but I had a pretty good idea where Zuko had gotten that scar on his face.

I looked around and realized I was lost. I berated myself for not paying attention and scaled one of the trees, hoping to get a glimpse of something familiar. There was nothing, nothing at all. Just trees and more trees. I sighed, and hopped down. As I landed, I saw something intriguing in the distance.

I obviously wasn't thinking straight when I decided to walk over there. As I stepped over a log, my foot got caught on something, and I landed in a pile of leaves. As I pushed myself up, the ground collapsed beneath me. I fell several feet and landed on my stomach. It was very painful, since there were a few sharp objects on the ground.

I sat up and checked for injuries. There was a shallow cut on my forearm, but that was it. The bruises would probably come later. I looked up, and tried to figure out how I would get out, since it was a very deep hole. After a minute, I realized something and smacked my forehead with my hand. How could I have forgotten about alchemy?

I clapped my hands and placed them against the ground. Immediately a small staircase appeared and I climbed out. I looked around, trying to figure out who had made the hole. The answer was obvious after a moment, and I walked away fairly quickly. Once I was away from there, I collapsed on a pile of leaves – and fell into another hole.

This time it took me a while to regain my senses, since my head had struck something hard. Finally, I looked up, and saw Zuko standing at the edge of the hole.

--------------

Zuko:

After I got Ed out of the hole, I led the way back to the camp. We were both very quiet. After a while, I stopped walking.

"Al told me about what happened."

"Oh, really? That's nice."

"What are you doing now?"

"We've spent the past three years looking for a way to get our bodies back, but recently we've run into other problems."

"Other problems?"

"Yeah. The military in our country is very corrupt, and I can't get out of it without putting my friend's life in danger."

"Get out of it? You mean you work for the military?"

"Yeah, as a State Alchemist."

"Why are you working for the military if you hate it so much?"

"Well, as a State Alchemist, I have access to a lot of information and resources that normal people don't have. If I use those resources, I have a better chance of getting Al back to normal."

"But don't a lot of people hate you?"

"My reputation doesn't matter to me nearly as much as Al's happiness does. No matter what I go through, getting his body back comes first," Ed said as he started walking again. We continued towards the camp, each lost in our own thoughts.

As we walked, I thought about what my uncle had said, when he was trying to teach me how to use lightning: _Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame._ I looked at Ed again. He had definitely mastered humility, if his reputation didn't matter to him.

------------

Ugh… first-person sounds so cheesy sometimes…


End file.
